Wasn't originally going to post this chapter, but in honor of the two-days-past National Cheese Fry Day here we have it! Hope you enjoy peering into the mind of Hyrule's least favorite citizen...

Read on!

He didn't often venture out into the streets of Castle Town. They festered like cancer beneath his boots – ever growing with the squalor of the earth, filled to the brim with everything vile in the world, everything he despised. Laughter was stamped out beneath his soles, the upturned looks of hope cast down beneath the steely gazes of the surveillance cameras that lined the lanes.

What was the phrase? It eluded him then, as the first wafts of smoke drifted to the ash-colored heavens. Baptism by fire. This was his sacrifice to the goddesses, and Hyrule was his funeral pyre. Yes, he would enjoy watching them burn.

Ganondorf, as he used to be known, had come to make a change. But what was Ganondorf, really? He mulled over the ideas as the smoke grew thicker, his footsteps harsh and abrasive against the stone of the rough-cobbles streets. Was he a businessman? A politician? A dictator? A terrorist? He supposed he was all of those things. It made for an intriguing mixture.

There was no way around it. A blight had burrowed into the heart of Hyrule. It poisoned the young minds of the children, infected the men and women as they went about their daily lives. They complained endlessly until he stopped their complaining, permanently. Hatred was replaced with fear – but really, was it such a bad switch?

He was satisfied with what he had created. Ganondorf was a perfectionist, but he was sure that he could admit in the moment that he was pleased. He had severed the disease at its source, charring away the blight until it faded into oblivion. Only ashes would remain, and he would revel in his work. Perhaps then they would praise him for removing the enemy they somehow couldn't see.

This problem had plagued Ganondorf since the beginning. He saw enemies where the world saw heroes. When Hyrule reveled in peace, he saw the world teetering on the brink of apathy and laziness. When the world called for rest, Ganondorf called for the world to build. To shore up defenses, he believed, would prevent a future attack.

Hylians did not possess this foresight. Neither did the Zora, Gorons, or his own Gerudo. It was this very trait that exiled him from his own land, forcing him to turn to the public eye for support. And support... He mulled over this idea with a smile twisting his lips. No one could doubt he had found support.

Another thing the Hylians missed – they saw monsters where Ganondorf saw allies. A confusing thing, physical beauty. Perhaps that was why the Hylians were so attracted to their king and their princess, with charity balls and overwhelming humanitarianism. Ganondorf sneered at such sentiments, for he saw them for the facade they really were. One night of dancing with the richest of the rich, full of champagne and excitement, and then back to the world of abject poverty.

Hyrule was an illusion that the world didn't want to realize was false. He was merely shattering the hypnosis clenching them all, showing them the real world. It was gritty and bloody, indeed, but Ganondorf operated in the real world. He could make the real world new.

The buildings had been chosen particularly. Or maybe they hadn't. Ganondorf couldn't quite remember. But as the flames broiled to a burning intensity, searing his front as he stood a safe distance away, and timbers began to splinter before his eyes, any doubt that had crossed his mind vanished. This was the Hylian illusion: simple folk getting by, making do with what they had.

Ganondorf knew the desperate truths within. He knew the illegal liquor bar holed up in a corner of the apartments, and the stores of jewels stolen mere days ago hidden where their new owners figured no one would ever look. Ganondorf looked. Ganondorf had eyes everywhere, where even the most careful and most diligent felt safe. The simple folk with their complicated history and flirtation with disaster. How tasteful that it was burned from them?

Screams electrified his blood, and a single globule of sweat danced down his spine in a smooth line. The heat was intense from his vantage point, a smarting sear on his exposed front. Despite the fiery temperature, Ganondorf lowered his hood over his forehead and watched as the smoke rose in great clouds from the building. A warm breeze had kicked up, darting through the alley behind him and snapping his cloak as he surveyed the scene. The sound of it all made for quite the symphony. Screams of longing and pain, the snap of wood and the crash as floors fell in on each other like a house of cards.

An explosion rippled from the structure, followed by an increase in the terrified shouts and sobs that threatened to deafen Ganondorf. A frown tugged on his sharp features; he was beginning to tire of this routine. He made a change, the people screamed, and then they had more to complain about. He stifled the complaining, they threw a fit again, and the cycle continued. People, Ganondorf deduced, were rather like young children. Petulant, whining, and ignorant of what was best for them, even when he explained it clearly.

Smoke filled the sky now, blocking out the stars to a smeared canvas of the darkest black. Churning columns of ash supported this new foundation, the pillars of his new empire wrought in the heart of Hyrule itself. Under Ganondorf, the fires never stopped burning. Soot clung to his lungs and drifted about his heavy boots. He wasn't quite sure if it was from flesh or fire, but he cared not either way.

Just when he had seen enough, the pattering of footsteps drew his attention to the entrance of the alleyway. Rasping breaths preceded the entrance of a young child, Hylian, who burst into view with long strides and ash-smeared limbs. Tears formed clear trails down his blackened cheeks.

He was everything Ganondorf despised, and the Gerudo had half the mind to strike him down at that very moment for it. The boy was everything he hated in the world: a privileged Hylian youth, whining about his measly problems in the center of the evil in the realm. For a moment he lost control of himself and his hand twitched towards the dagger at his side.

No, he would not indulge himself in this small killing. The boy was one of the millions who he intended to raze to the ground. What would one child mean in the face of the masses? His hand drifted down to his side, lips twitching into a grin as he sneered down at the child. Blood would spill again, but today was not that day.

Turning on his heel, Ganondorf pulled his cloak out behind him and strode down the street, leaving the sniveling child behind him. His thumb brushed against the hilt of his weapon and he smiled, fixing his hand around the cool metal in a vice grip.

Soon, he thought to himself with a grin, soon all of Hyrule will kneel before this blade. And oh, what a day that will be.

Reviews, favorites and follows go to (National Cheese Fry Day) future chapters. I'm trying to explore every aspect of the world of Remnants, so what do you want to know? Past, present, or future, your wish is my command :)

Thanks as always for reading! If you're still in the reading mood, go check out my new story Repulse! It's officially my favorite thing and you should definitely give it a look.

Until next time!